Is it necessary to have a day off after training?

Days of rest are a standard part of exercise programs, but they are not the only way to avoid overloading. It's time to take a look at the difference between rest and recovery, and also to figure out when you can change the rules and take an extra day off. This can be very important for your body to recover properly and be ready for further physical exertion that you have prepared for it.

Reasons for the existence of rest days

Most programs focused on strength training, for example, in weightlifting, are built on two principles. In the first case, one day you get a full load on the entire body, then relax, and in the second exercise are built in such a way that there is a partial load on the muscles, that is, one day you load your leg muscles while resting your arm muscles. In any case, the point is to let your muscles relax before you apply them again. However, not every load acts accordingly. Runners, for example, often run daily and rest only one, maximum two times a week. But even in this scheme they will alternate the days of intense running with the days during which they load their body much less.

Variety and features

Other sports also have their own characteristics, but nowhere does anyone force each muscle of their body to work daily until exhausted. Even when elite athletes do such exercises every day that seem to ordinary people deadly complicated, this is because the "difficult" for ordinary people is "simple" for them. You can be sure that their coaches correctly planned these "light" trainings in such a way as to maintain the shape of the athlete, while reducing the likelihood of injury. Days of rest and load sharing between days help to set the pace of physical activity. Too much intense running, if you are unaccustomed to it, can cause tendonitis and other leg injuries. And too many physical exercises can lead to the fact that you will have an overstrain: your body will develop flu symptoms, and you will begin to experience problems with sleep, because your body will not cope with the requirements that you are pushing it.

In the rest there is no magic

Resting for a whole day after an intense workout is not the only way to protect yourself from overexertion. However, here are a few reasons why you should still adhere to this rule:

• Deferred tenderness of the muscles usually manifests itself two days after training. If you overextended on Monday, then on Tuesday you will feel a slight pain in the muscles, but in general, do not even think that something is wrong. However, if you wait for the environment, you will be able to fully appreciate the condition of your muscles. And then you can already make the right decision as to whether to practice again or not, and if so, what intensity of training to choose.
• Rest every other day means that only half of your days will be devoted to intensive training. The other half will be laid aside for rest or light workouts, so your overall schedule will be acceptable in terms of intensity.
• It is much easier to do physical exercises if you get pleasure from them. Intensive loads rarely bring pleasure, and sometimes you need to seriously tune yourself to try something really complicated. There is nothing to worry about if you do not do it every day. And if you have more relaxed days, then it will be easier for you to stick to the schedule.

However, if you can achieve such results with your own schedule, you can safely stick to it. If you enjoy all your activities, even the most intense ones, you can gradually add more difficult days to your schedule. If this does not cause you any trouble, go ahead! However, if you begin to feel pain or excessive fatigue, listen to your body and let it rest.

Time frame

If you have problems with muscle pain, note that one day of a break may not be enough to cope with the problems that have arisen. The fact that pain manifests itself most intensively 48 hours after training is just an average. Time frames can be very diverse. You can feel pain and weakness in the muscles in just one day, and you can feel it all for a week, especially if you've tried something new and very complex. So, to re-engage in sports for one hundred percent, you may need three or four days of rest.

Restoration does not mean a complete rest

Some people prefer to use the term "recovery" rather than "rest", since a full rest does not have to be your goal. In the end, to bring the fork to your mouth, you need to use the same muscles that you use to raise the dumbbell, and if you can do it, then you hardly need a full rest. Light loads are normal. Then you will have to calibrate your own feelings. If you are just starting to play sports and have had an intensive day of training, then you do not need to ride a bicycle ten kilometers the next day. However, if you go to work every day on a bicycle and cross ten kilometers, you can do it even on your day of rest.

Gradual calibration

As you become aware of your strengths and weaknesses, you will be able to change your schedule depending on what suits you best. This can mean that you once or twice a week give your body a complete rest. Or it may mean that you are engaged very intensively in one day, and the next day you have a rest. If in general you do enough exercise and do not get hurt and do not feel pain in the muscles, then you are doing everything right.